New Beginnings
by doombunny13
Summary: Brainiac Five's life turns a new leaf after he decides to leave Colu, his homeworld, in search of his own place in an ever-expanding universe. A story of Brainy's years before the Legion. There will be special guest appearances, can't tell you who yet.
1. Ch 1: A Change

**Hello all, just thought I'd drop in and get something straight first. I've seen the television series a billion times and read as much as I can on the internet, but I have not read any of the actual Legion comics. Therefore, the following story is purely my interpretation of what happened based off of the show and my basic knowledge. I apologize for any mistakes in advance, so don't bite my head off. **

**Wait…. Something else… Oh yeah. I don't own the ****Legion of Superheroes**** or anything. Duh. Continue with your reading. **

Brainiac Five's life was beginning to feel like a living hell. He was tired. Tired of the same basic routine. Tired of the ever-watchful guards and "caretakers". Tired of being locked up in his own lab. Tired of the monotone world his life was becoming.

The small blonde boy was sitting in front of his latest project which was spread out before him in pieces on a metal table. Any regular human would have mistaken him for an inept child no older than the age of nine if it was not for his green skin and strange robotic-like eyes. But Brainiac Five knew he was no ordinary child. He was the descendent of the great Brainiac, and as such the inhabitants of Colu treated him like a piece of expensive hardware; fragile and important, but just an object to use. To be frank, the constant watch of his caretakers was becoming annoying and frustrating. He was only allowed to work on projects that the Coluans wanted him to; when on the side he had millions of ideas of his own he wanted to bring forth into his lab. He had been debating lately if he should leave Colu altogether. A while back, Brainiac Five would have never thought of leaving his home planet. It was the only place he had ever lived. There were many files of other worlds and events in his memory files, but they were not his own, rather the original Brainiac's and files from his many computer resources. The strange places held his interest more than Colu, especially one in particular. He had always wanted to visit Earth, home of the greatest "Superman" memorial of all time. Leaving Colu, though, would not be a simple goodbye. He was 99.7 sure that they were not going to let him leave. This was going to take some thought. That thought was interrupted by the stone voice of one of the caretakers.

"Brainiac Five. It is time for you to retire your current project for the time being and recollect yourself with the Hive-mind." The caretaker's voice instructed Brainiac Five in an unchanging tone.

Unchanging.

Like everything else.

Brainiac Five let the caretaker's instructions bounce in his head for a second before swiveling his chair around. Standing up out of his chair, he took even steps to the lab door. His footsteps echoed sharply in the metal room as he swept away the small blonde hairs that continued to fall in front of his cold magenta eyes.

It was time to retire his stay on Colu.

* * *

Brainiac Five had only taken a few steps into the Central Hive Chamber before he realized he had slightly miscalculated. There were seven more guards then he had expected. No matter. They still were not going to be able to stop him from leaving. The Central Hive Chamber was wide and circular covered in dark iridescent material in the shapes of hexagons that formed a geometrical pattern. The High Ruler was seated high above on a black throne so she could overlook all of the 'lower' Coluans. Other Coluans, mostly the guards, were on raised platforms, but none higher than the High Ruler's. There were three white circles connected by two white lines in the middle of the room before the throne. Brainiac Five stepped into the center circle, staring straight in front of him. He bent down on one knee; head down as of customs, only standing when the High Ruler addressed him.

"Brainiac Five. Commence your systematic upgrade with the Hive-mind." The High Ruler of Colu spoke directly to him, but never lowered her eyes to the spot where he stood.

"I refuse."

This caused her to swiftly direct her gaze at him. Her eyes became slits as she narrowed them into a questioning glare.

"Pardon me?" the High Ruler said. "You must be mistaken. You are going to commence the regular upgrade." Brainiac Five could almost feel the cold hard glare of the High Ruler drilling into his head.

"_You_ are mistaken. I will not be uploading today or even tomorrow because I am leaving." He said all of his words carefully and sternly. "I am leaving Colu and you are going to let me go. The only reason I came here is to tell you that." He raised his gaze to the equal cold stare of the High Ruler. He saw her eyes widen slightly before she narrowed them further still.

"Really, it would be…. _unwise _for you to leave, Brainiac Five." At that a few of the guards shifted closer to him and seemed to stiffen, as if they were preparing for an attack. "It is unimportant why you wish to leave the Hive-mind. Whatever the reason, do you realize the dangers of not being here for the next alignment or more importantly, the crude ways outside of Colu's order?"

"Order? This '_order'_ you speak of holds no interest to me any longer. I will depart immediately."

"You know we cannot let you do that." The guards tightened their circle around Brainiac Five, surrounding him with tall powerful Coluans almost three times the size of the small child. Turning his back on the High Ruler, he began his walk towards to exit of the Central Hive Chamber. The guard to his left moved to stop him when the guard next to him mumbled something barely audible.

"Is he holding somethi-"

The guard was cut off by a loud explosion from the base of the tall hexagon supporting the throne. The blast knocked several guards down and the tall tower started to shake and crumble. The High Ruler leapt forward to the ground sporting a new huge crater where the three circles had been. The fallen guards were rising to their feet and the other half were returning to the explosion site. The High Ruler did not need her eyes to know what was missing from the now damaged Chamber. Sharply turning to the closest guard, she asked the question no one wanted to answer.

"Where is the boy?"

* * *

Brainiac Five was running faster then he had ever run before. He estimated it would take 35 seconds at best until they located him and brought the entire Coluan army there to stop him. He was certain that they would not kill him if things became desperate, but he always avoided chances that may turn out unfortunate for him. Certainty was the only sure way of survival, but at the moment everything was depending on how he planned out his final moves. Turning through the maze of twisting hallways he concentrated on finding the Southeastern Hanger. From there, he would hack into the controls of the intergalactic starship called _The Nebula_ and escape the clutches of his home world. Things had gone according to plan so far. He had known that they would not let him go, so he had placed the small nanotechnology bomb that he had recently invented on the floor when he had bowed traditionally to the _'almighty'_ High Ruler. His original plan had been to escape through the ventilation system, therefore giving him more cover, but it would have been a matter of seconds before they would cut off his exists. Detonating his bomb with the small handheld detonator had proven useful in distracting the guards, and he was lucky not to run into any others as he continued his dash to the hanger.

He could barely keep himself from skidding to a stop as he turned the last corner. Suddenly the endless hallways opened up into a huge open-ceiling room filled with Coluan ships. One of the ships stood out from the sleek uniformed purple with its rusty blue-green color. Brainiac Five knew that _The Nebula _was an older ship, but he was already beginning to doubt that it could fly at all, but it was his best chance of escape. It was well known that Coluans preferred to keep to themselves, so even one outsiders' ship was unusual. He was about to run to the odd ship when something moved out of the corner of his vision. The guards must have already received notification of his escape attempt. Brainiac Five suspected they knew he was going for the ship, and were lying in wait in hopes of stopping him. Counting the guards he could see, it became clear that he would not be able to get to the ship fast enough to evade them. In fact, it looked as if they were preparing to destroy the ship, and therefore smash his chances of leaving. This left only one option. Two really, but Brainiac Five was not considering surrendering as an option.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small circular disk the size of a coin. It was silver in color with a translucent center. Hard to see and substantially light, the device's presence barely known to the person holding it. Brainiac Five almost hated to see his first prototype go to waste, but he would just build another one once he got his hands on the materials. Putting one knee on the ground for the second time that day, he twisted the silver ring around the translucent center and slid the almost weightless disk across the smooth polished floor.

The guards lunged out in attack as they saw Brainiac Five run from his hiding place and flee towards the nearest Coluan ship. All of them fired high quantities of electricity at the running child, not enough to kill, but enough to knock him unconscious instantly. For some strange reason though, their attacks were not having any affect on the boy. Struggling to contain their surprise and confusion, some of the guards diverted to just extending their arms quickly towards the moving target to calm him with the Hive-mind's powerful code content. The arms sped closer and closer…. until they went straight through him. It was scientifically impossible to do what the small boy had just done. The guards ceased their attacks to try to comprehend what exactly was taking place. Then the boy reached a Coluan ship and disappeared. Disappeared was not the best term; it was more like he turned fuzzy and transparent before fizzing out like a broken television. One of the Coluans stepped calmly but cautiously to the spot the boy disappeared and took a close look at the area. Bending over, he picked up a small circular device that was spurting sparks and smoke. Finally realizing their mistake, the guards began to survey the area. The child had proven his genius birthright by fooling them all with another diversion. The fact that the distraction had only lasted a minute meant that there was no possible way he could have slipped past without them noticing. They began to turn their attention to the spot the fake had come from, only to find it empty with traces stating the obvious: the boy had been there. That was when one of the Coluans noticed a soft humming and a rush of hot air. He turned around.

There was a small blue-green ship identified as _The Nebula_, and it was slowly rising off of the ground. The ship's rusty composure began to groan and a few metal pieces fell off and clattered to the floor. The other guards had their own gazes locked on something more specific. Looking past the Coluan ships, past the rising rusty heap, past the dirty and dusty view-screen, there was a small blonde green-skinned boy barely tall enough to reach the controls. He gave them no notice, not even a spare glance as his fingers swiftly worked across the controls. The old ship rose completely above the hanger's wall, gave one final shudder, and became a blur as it jumped into hyperspace. The sonic boom from the jump knocked most of the guards flat to the ground. Those who were not on the floor were now contemplating their own fates, because this failure was one the High-ruler was unlikely to forget. Ever.

**That's it for now. I'll continue it if I get some encouragement or kudos or whatever. Thanks for reading it this far! :D**


	2. Ch 2: Slight Miscalculations

**It's me, DB. I know it's been a long time since I last updated, and I am hoping after school picks up I will be able to update at least every week or so (sorry for the delay). If it means anything, this story is taking a ton of research on characters, comics, events, timelines, and random information on things like space travel. ****It is also confusing choosing the way Brainy left Colu. Did you know some sources say Brainy left Colu just to join the Legion while others say he was outlawed for being too smart? I chose to have him leave on his own accord, so keep that in mind. I did my best to seperate the paragraphs more.**

**I do not own the ****Legion of Superheroes**** or anything. Hopefully you knew that. Continue. **

A slight miscalculation. That's all it was. Or maybe not so slight. Brainiac Five stopped feeding the ship's computer coordinates.

Everything was going according to plan.

Except for a few outlying problems.

Like the extra guards, the High-ruler's firm determination to keep him on Colu, the unexpected Coluans who were waiting in the hanger… and of course there was the issue of _The Nebula _running out of fuel and its composure to keep from falling into a rusty pile at any moment. Sure, he had not expected it to be easy, but to deal with this mess was just _annoying_. The excess guards in the beginning were easy enough; he had been planning to use the nanotech bomb anyways. The second set of guards had been a nuisance as well, causing him to waste a first-class prototype of a holographic prerecorded simulation of that size before he could test it properly.

He could have reverted to his battle form, but the smaller the target, the more difficult to hit, and Brainiac Five had no intentions of testing the other Coluans' accuracy.

Then there was the Coluan High-ruler. Even when he had started to leave in _The Nebula _she had attempted to block his path, figuratively speaking. Every Coluan being on the planet was intertwined with each other. The Hive-mind's unity is what has saved Colu time after time, but the connection had nearly cost him his freedom.

The High-ruler did not want him to leave. The urge to submit to the orders and simply surrender had almost been too much. Almost.

The most reoccurring question was what he was going to do when the next Alignment arrived. If his past scenarios of a Coluan not actively in the Hive-mind when it occurred were correct, then he was, almost certainly, going to go completely and utterly insane. _Permanently._

Shaking his head as if to shake the thought from his mind, Brainiac Five turned his attention back to the impending predicament: _The Nebula_'s lack of fuel. Typing in instructions into the computer, he read the current data concerning fuel. Only 3,000 gallons of esteigine, or 200,031 parsecs of travel before the ship became unable to move, leaving him stranded. He frowned at the numbers. He had known that the Coluans would not leave a foreigner's ship fully fueled, but he had hoped to cover more ground before having to leave the crumbling ship. 197 parsecs were not nearly enough to reach Earth.

Now he was forced to choose a substitute destination until he could find a replacement ship to continue on. The current transport was beyond even his reach of repair. In fact, the only reason Brainiac Five had taken _The Nebula_ was because of its outsider origins. If he had taken a Coluan (and more practical) vessel, then there was a possibility of his people overriding the systems and then his epic voyage would become a short joyride. Despite his efforts to avoid the latter, if he did not find a close inhabited planet, all of his efforts would be meaningless.

"Site all of the solid planets within 200,000 parsecs of our current location," he commanded the ship's navigation system. A hazy holographic solar system appeared in front of him.

"Gelolin, Ardesco Kilco, and Garwit of the Lateo system," the computerized voice replied as the holo-map spun to the right, showing three relatively close planets.

The planet on the left, assumedly Gelolin, was a white sphere covered in ice with large grey wisps twirling in the atmosphere; most likely powerful storms. _The Nebula_ would be torn apart on entre.

Moving on to the right, there was a red orb, slightly smaller than Gelolin. Ardesco Kilco looked acceptable at first glace, until Brainiac Five zoomed the map in closer, revealing it had multiple spots of flaming magma and was completely covered in volcanoes. Bursting into flames was not on his schedule.

That left Garwit. The small planet was multiple shades of green with patches of deep blue. It resembled a smaller version of an early Earth with less water and more forest.

"Search for data on the planet Garwit." Brainiac Five waited for the response as the map raced to focus on the green planet. Minutes passed. Why did everything have to be so slow?

Finally the ship found the information and replied to the irritated controller.

"**Garwit**: Small planet covered in vegetation 195,021 parsecs from current location. Most of its inhabitants are a wide variety of flora and fauna with a small amount of intelligent residents.

**Capital city:** Galvan.

**Current population:** 5,186. 52 percent natives, 43 percent humans, 5 percent other.

**Technology Level**: third highest in the Lateo system."

A small, inhabited planet within his fuel limitations. Even with the low technology level, any inhabitable planet was better than Colu. Garwit would have to do.

"Set itinerary for Garwit."

* * *

The speeding space-ship was coming closer to its target. Brainiac Five watched as the small planet became larger and larger while working on fixing an electrical circuit that had corrupted near the back. He normally would not fix a part of something he was about to abandon, but the sparking energy was beginning to unnerve him. He had left _The Nebula_ on auto-pilot while he covered the thin exposed wires. He did not see the point in wasting time controlling the ship if the ship could manage itself just fine.

Or so he thought.

He was abruptly flung harshly to the wall, along with anything unattached.

There was a loud bang as the haphazard objects slammed into him, crushing him harder against the steel wall. Turning his head, Brainiac Five found himself staring at a sharp duristeel screwdriver inches from his face.

That was… uncomfortably close.

He struggled to get out of the rusty pile while moving away from the implanted screwdriver. Following his escape through the chaos, he did his best not to stumble across the compartment as the turbulence increased, causing the unattached matter to thud as the objects were thrown unsafely around the ship.

He gripped the controller's chair as soon as he reached it to keep from being tossed around with the other objects. After safely maneuvering into the seat and fastening himself in as best as he could, he swept his violet eyes over the blinking disarray of red lights.

_The Nebula_ had hit the atmosphere of Garwit and was out of control. The friction and speed had been too much for the old ship to handle, so now the vessel was bearing nose-first to the ground.

His first flight in space, and Brainiac Five was going to crash-land.

Great.

He switched the steering to manual and grabbed the controls with both hands. The ship was still shaking, so all of his instruction to the navigator was as if he was talking to someone while riding a jackhammer.

"Fff-ffI—ind the n-nneeEeearrrest cleaaar-rrr aarRrea!" ("Find the nearest clear area")

"Unable to identify voice command," came the automated reply to the agitated controller.

**"Ff-ffF-IIINE!"**

Brainiac Five focused his electronically enhanced eyes on the view screen. He was going to have to navigate and steer _while_ trying to not get hit by flying objects at the same time. He could feel the intense heat as _The Nebula_ continued to burn through the atmosphere.

He tried to bring the ship upwards as he saw the tree covered ground get closer. The inertia of the ship was making it almost impossible to stop the ship from its current course, but Brainiac Five put every ounce of strength he had in leveling the ship. _The Nebula_ slowly straightened out as it rocketed towards the trees. The scrape of metal on wood was painfully loud and he could feel the snap of trees being broken underneath the ship's hull. The old vessel was about to hit the hard ground when Brainiac Five, having fast reflexes, immediately let go of the controls to activate the energy shield on his belt. In spite of him knowing it would not matter, he shut his eyes when the ship hit the ground.

The impact was instant.

It was if the ship had run straight into a steel wall. Brainiac Five could feel the bone-crushing pressure on his shield, he could hear the explosions coming from the engines, the sound of ripping rubber as the aged harness holding him frayed and snapped, sending him straight forwards.

The brute force of his collision sent stars behind his closed eyes before they were enveloped in creeping shadows. He heard the fizzing of his shield dissipating as the energy core's power supply was consumed. Fighting the growing darkness of unconsciousness, Brainiac Five commanded his body to move, his eyes to open, but nothing was listening. He could not stay where he was. If the ship exploded with him near with his energy shield deactivated like it was now, he would be sent back to Colu in a test-tube. A very _very_ small test-tube.

Gradually his commands went through and his eyes snapped open, leaving him to blink repeatedly to reflect on what he was seeing. A canopy of trees was blocking the sky, a small amount of sunlight slipping through onto his face. He was not in the ship like he had thought, though it only took a glance to find out why.

_The Nebula_ was a pile of twisted rusty metal, smoke rising from the giant hole in the windshield, 25 meters from his current position.

He had been hurled 25 meters after crashing straight through the windshield of the ship. Once again he underestimated the problems of the old vessel; he especially had not been expecting for the harness holding him in to_ snap_. If it was not for the energy shield, Brainiac Five was sure he would be… well, he wouldn't be anything recognizable.

Finally getting his systems to function properly again, he struggled to his feet, still a tad shaky from the crash. Walking carefully around the scraps littered around the crash site, he managed to reach the ship, or what was left of it.

It was unquestionably never going to fly again. Half of it had been torn off and was farther away, while some of the jets were missing, leaving gapping holes in the metal hull. After running a check inside of the ship to put out any fires (because the last thing he needing was a flaming forest), he placed a few choice items into a rumpled knapsack to take with him. He needed to find civilization before night set in; Garwit seemed to have a large amount of nocturnal predators.

Brainiac Five slung the scruffy backpack over his shoulders and walked into the forest. His internal clocks had been jumbled during the crash, so he had no idea what time it was, which was beginning to actually irritate him.

Of course, he could calculate the time if he could see the planet's sun, but he was not coming into any clearings and the trees were extremely tall and thick.

The tree with branches lowest to the ground was a little further ahead. Brainiac Five reached the broad trunk and looked up into the green canopy. The closest branch was a good thirty meters off the ground; not a problem if you had extendible parts. He took a small jump upwards as he simultaneously extended his arms until his hands grasped the rough branch. He pulled himself up onto the branch and crouched for only a moment before leaping up to the next branch.

After pulling himself through the onslaught of green leaves, Brainiac Five's head emerged from the dense foliage.

The full force of the suns rays hit his face and he shielded his vision from the piercing glare. Once his eyes adjusted to the bright surroundings, he took inventory of his environment. The wide canopy of trees created a thick lush carpet for the sky; it was hard to find anywhere where you could actually see the forest floor. The sky was a clear blue hue, with small wisps of white clouds scattered around.

A glimmer in the distance caught his eye. Increasing his vision range, Brainiac Five discovered it was a small city, glistening metallically in the sunlight. He took an educated guess that the city was the capital, Galvin. The distance from the sheltered city though, was quite large. From he looks of it, it would take a minimum of two days to reach civilization. Time is the essence, which brought Brainiac Five to his original problem.

He averted his observations and turned to the south. There was only one sun in the Lateo system, and it was an intense red orb shining past halfway between the center of the sky and due west. Based on where his crash-coursed ship should have landed, it was somewhere between 3 and 4 in the afternoon, leaving only a few short hours to make his way towards the city.

After he was sure he had a good bearing on the direction of the city, Brainiac Five jumped down from the tree branch to branch. His feet hit the solid ground, and he commenced his expedition to the city of Galvan.

**Well, Thanks for anyone who read to here! Comments are appreciated; I like the knowledge that someone actually cares about this story or noticed any problems. I know that I am not the only one who is getting annoyed with calling Brainy "Brainiac Five" all the time, but it will be a while before he is called anything other than that. When that moment comes, we will all through a party and praise the nick-name-giver. Also, I am sure some of you are anticipating Brainy talking to someone OTHER than his computer. Do not fear, there will be some character interactions in the next chapter. Until then…**


	3. Ch 3: Unwanted Attention

****

Whoa. This is another chapter update in what? 3 days? That's wicked. I'll be writing **New Beginnings**** and ****Walking Reflection**** whenever I get a chance, while ****Leak**** will be on hold. For the time being, I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I absolutely adore the incoming character. **

**READ ON!**

* * *

Brainiac Five immediately noticed the differences between his home-world and Garwit.

First of all, everything was immensely disorganized. The orderly environment of Colu's structured silver and blue-green trees over the smooth ornate ground was exceedingly different from the jumbled foliage and uneven terrain of Garwit. He was becoming tired of the backpack snagging on every protruding twig, not to mention he had recently learned to watch the placement of his feet to prevent himself from walking into unseen ditches.

The longer he walked through the forest, the more he started paying attention to the little details around him. It was his first time on any planet other than Colu, and learning was only a fraction of what he was experiencing in the uncharted territory. There were strange ferns and bushes that he could identify, and others that were a complete mystery. Had he been near his lab, Brainiac Five would have spent days discovering and testing the plants. He caught glimpses of small animals in the treetops, and sometimes he even felt as though something was watching him.

Brainiac Five kept a cautious watch on his surroundings, just in case.

He continued to trek warily through the dense undergrowth until the sun lowered and the cold damp of night began to set in. Deciding it was best to find shelter due to the rolling thunder in the once-clear sky, Brainiac Five started to evaluate the best area to stake out the rain.

He quickly realized that the tick forest canopy that excluded sunlight would not exclude the rain but rather let in a substantial amount of heavy precipitation. He surveyed the area, but nothing grabbed his initial attention. Squinting to use his terrestrial-mapping eyesight, he could conclude that there were no caves close to his location.

Aggravated at his current situation, Brainiac Five chose a relatively large and sturdy rock with a small eroded cavity in its side. He felt the first few raindrops fall on his nose as the cracking sound of flashing lightning lighted the forest. Once he was in the small indentation, he huddled with his back as close to the rock as possible while folding his arms against his chest to keep out of the pounding rain.

And so Brainiac Five sat there, curled up in a tight posture while the rainstorm brought a continuous stream of dripping water over his head, getting him wet despite practically hiding under a rock. Occasionally the lightning would flash and crackle, lighting the dark eerie surroundings and leaving his retinas imprinted.

His internal system's clocks showed the time passing by, but he did not nod off. He couldn't; not when the glowing predatory eyes haunted the shadows even in the barrage of water. Brainiac Five sat vigil all night so as to not allow the eyes a chance to rip him to shreds. His shield's power core was partially recharged using solar energy, and the sun was rather isolated at the moment.

Hours crawled by, the pounding downpour decreased to a steady dripping as the storm passed along with the obscurity of night, leaving the morning sunlight room to filter through the small gaps. He spent a moment placing the sack back on himself before emerging from his crude shelter and shook his head a few times to loose most of the water clinging to his hair. Then he continued on, avoiding the myriad puddles collected on the ground.

Normally, Brainiac Five would take the time to refresh his systems by resting and take a while recharging his personal shield in some out-of-the-way sunlight, but he did not have the time. Then again, normally he would not need his personal shields. At least he did not when he was on Colu.

The day passed on slowly. There were a few stray streams and fallen branches that littered the ground along with the mud, but nothing he couldn't handle. Noon came and went; the sun streamed more intensely through the treetops. As interesting and the different planet was, he was finding himself bored with the never-ending trees and chaotic layout of Garwit's forest. He was still counting the different species of mushrooms when something bumped into the back of his leg.

Brainiac Five whipped around and instantly adjusted his right arm into a massive laser cannon to face the opponent. When he did not perceive anyone in front of him, his vision slowly lowered to the blinking red eyes by his feet.

There, sitting on the ground next to his foot with its long tufted tail waving back and forth, was a white monkey. Its ruffled and messy fur had a slight tinge of light blue while the shining red eyes remained fixed on Brainiac Five's leg. It would appear to be a normal classification of monkey if it was not for the strange color and the two fuzzy antennas sprouting between its ears.

Convinced it was not a threat; Brainiac Five returned his arm into its normal state.

Then the thing started poking his foot. Repeatedly.

He stared down at the monkey's odd and irritating behavior. Was there something wrong with it? The poking continued. Concluding that there was indeed something wrong with the strange monkey, Brainiac Five shook it away from his foot and turned around to walk away. He then felt a small tug, and looked behind him only to notice the monkey had grabbed his pants and was pulling the stretchy material. Brainiac Five gave another shake of his foot before the monkey let go and just stared intently at him.

Not giving the animal a second glance, he walked forwards again. Honestly, the last thing he needed was more unnecessary delays.

Brainiac Five continued his hike to the city. Every once in a while the strange white monkey could be seen following him out of the corner of his eye and occasionally it would get close enough to start poking him again. One time it fastened itself to his leg and he had to stop to vibrate it off. He was pondering the possibility of tranquilizing the bothersome monkey when it leaped out of a tree and latched onto his shoulder.

He froze and slowly turned his head to face the hitchhiker. _Why_ wouldn't the irritating monkey leave him alone? The monkey seemed to respond to his thought when it titled its head and began to chatter rapidly to him. Ignoring the chatter, Brainiac Five reached over with his other arm and attempted to pull it off his shoulder when the monkey started howling. _Loudly._

Brainiac Five immediately let go and the howling stopped. Looking around for any signs of anything attracted by the earsplitting noise, he was relieved to find that the disturbance had just scared off most of the small animals. He turned his thought back to the monkey on his shoulder.

He could try to take it off again, but it would almost certainly cause more attention than he needed. He could shock it off, but a slight overdose of electricity could kill it, along with the fact he did not have any energy to spare. That left him with the last and least pleasant option: let it stay where it was until it left on its own. He gave the white monkey an angry glare before continuing on his self-imposed path, muttering about how it was not going to be worth the effort.

The monkey simply sat there the rest of the day. Every once in a while it reverted back to its fast chattering, but most of the daylight was spent in silence. Brainiac Five tried to remove it again after an hour, but the howling that followed was too much to deal with. Eventually he became accustomed to ignoring its presence completely and was able to focus his attention in preparation of the impending night.

Soon the forest began to rapidly darken as the violent weather rolled in thunder once again. He evaluated the area for shelter, but this time there was not even a single rock to protect him from the oncoming gale. The white monkey was clutching his shoulder with surprising strength; its furry tail wrapped tightly around Brainiac Five's neck, obviously unnerved by the approaching storm. The fast chatter coming from the frightened animal was a buzzing in his ear that was becoming _quite_ distracting. He slipped his backpack off and set it on the ground to relieve some of the tension from his shoulders.

"First an irremovable noisy monkey and now inadequate shelter," he muttered aloud for no particular reason.

Right as he finished the sentence, lightning struck the tree on his right, causing the deafening 'crack' that would have made the bravest of men jump. Brainiac Five jumped slightly, and not because of the unexpected noise. The monkey had actually jumped down his shirt at the blinding flash of light and at the loud sound it jumped out of the bottom.

After getting over the initial shock, Brainiac Five turned to see that it was nowhere to be seen or heard; the ghostly white presence was gone.

Feeling as if one of his problems was finally solved, he walked over to his backpack just as the problem leaped out of it, grasping the compressed package of food rations.

There they stood, staring at each other with the backpack in the middle, waiting for the next move. Brainiac Five held out his hand in a "give-it-back-or-I'll-blow-you-up" gesture when lightning cracked the sky again and the monkey frantically ran in the other direction, food rations still in hand. Brainiac Five immediately grabbed the backpack in front of him and started after his only guaranteed uncontaminated food as the rain began to drop from the sky. It did not take long for the light drizzle to become a heavy pelting of huge water particles.

Brainiac Five did not believe in anything unscientifically frivolous such as luck or magic, but chasing the sprocking monkey with the pounding rain in the middle of a forest made him conclude that lately the world was undeniably "out to get him".

After splashing in puddles and slipping in mud, he saw the monkey scrambled through a bush. Scraping his way through the shrub, Brainiac Five found himself staring at the smooth face of a small cliff. Although it was pitch dark and the sky was dumping rain, he could see the small white outline with his night-vision eyes crouching next to a tiny rock by the side of the smooth stone wall.

He was aiming at the figure when it made a slight movement.

Then a section of the rough rock suddenly moved over like a pane in a sliding glass door. The dark sliver in the rock widened until it was large enough for a typical human child to go through; then it abruptly stopped with a surprising metallic clang loud enough to be heard over the pounding rain.

Brainiac Five hesitated at the mysterious new opening. While he was contemplating the hazardous possibilities that could be awaiting inside of the cave, the monkey streaked into the hole, dropping the food package at the entrance.

The action gave him assurance. If an ignorant monkey had no issues with it, then he should not either. He was also tired of standing outside in a thunderstorm when a musky but dry shelter beckoned. Bracing himself in case of an ambush, the small Coluan picked up the food package, deposited it into his bag, and stepped out of the rain.

The damp smell of mold was the first to reach his nose as his eyes adjusted to the inky dark. The monkey was ambling around, its small feet and hands pattering the ground and echoing off the cave walls. Once it noticed the small figure standing by the lightning-illuminated doorway, the monkey paused its pacing. It suddenly ran over to where he stood, skidding to a stop on the smooth floor next to him. The monkey, who now had a devious grin spread across his face, scampered straight up his leg and torso so he could reclaim his favorite spot.

Brainiac Five kept his placid demeanor. But his mind was racing.

How did the monkey know this was here, let alone know how to get in? Why couldn't he find the cave when he was looking for shelter? Did someone crate this shelter or was it just a somewhat tampered cave? Was there anything living inside? The train of thought continued until the animal on his shoulder reached behind Brainiac Five and pulled a worn plastic switch.

The metal groan returned as the entrance to the cave started to shrink. He grabbed the switch and pulled it back up, and the movement paused before moving in the opposite direction. So the switch controlled the door.

Practical.

He pulled the switch back down and watched the outdoor view contract until the flashing of lightning could no longer be seen and the door hissed closed with a metal clang.

The quiet rhythm of muffled rain accompanied the beat of a steady dripping that echoed sharply in the cave. He was about to switch on his night vision when a slight whirling sound grew and the previously unnoticed hanging lights above the pair flickered to life and emitted a pale blue glow. At some point air vents seemed to be integrated into the cave ceiling along with the bland lights.

There was not much in the wide open area of the shelter. A few empty crates, a few long poles of metal, the remains of what looked like a low-tech bike, and a small pile of random objects. Looking closer he could see a bent metal spoon, a stack of cards, a faded photograph, and some rolled parchment stamped with what seemed to be three vertical lines with a diagonal line going through all three. Maybe he should have taken a closer look, but he was more interested in the mediocre mass of dry wood that was stacked in the other corner of the room.

After spending the time to build a crackling fire, Brainiac Five sat cross-legged on the ground with the fire in front of him and his backpack beside him. The monkey had taken a moment to run around and examine the foreign stuff in the corner by picking them up one by one and staring at them for short intervals of time. Eventual it became bored with the inanimate objects and decided its time was better spent on Brainiac Five's shoulder ruffling through his hair.

For once, he really didn't care about the playful and patience-trying activities. He was somewhat famished from three days without food and non-stop commotion. Reaching into the bag and pulling out a food ratio of some fruit and tough wheat, Brainiac Five took a small morsel and was halfway done with his bread when there was a small whimper.

He turned his head slowly to the side so he could face that _horrible_ monkey. It was perched in its self-proclaimed spot with one arm slightly outstretched to the food with the most pitiful tear-brewing expression.

Ignoring the requesting animal, he continued with his meal. He was on his second roll of bread when the whimpering began again so he turned to the _thing._

He didn't care.

He really didn't.

But for whatever illogical reason, he handed the white monkey a mango from his knapsack and watched as it tried to fit the entire fruit in its mouth at once. The foolish antics brought a small twinge to the corners of Brainiac Five's mouth, but he suppressed the urge to smile and returned to consuming his provisions.

So they sat in silence, munching on the rations until the demanding monster in the boy's stomach had settled. The food was put away for a later time and Brainiac Five was relieved that the monkey had left his shoulder to play with the electromagnetic compass it found in his bag.

Calm and in need of a good rest, he sat warm by the fire and leaned his back against the cave wall. The smoke blew in the opposite direction towards the air vents and his head felt less… crammed. Feeling a sense of security and liberty for the first time since he had been abandoned, he was about to let sleep claim him when a warm existence plopped into his lap and snuggled against him.

Brainiac Five's eyes flew open. The monkey had chosen its position without getting consent from the lap's owner. A scowl grew on his face and he picked up the thing and placed it off to the side.

"Go away."

The monkey sat there with an indecisive look on its small furry face before it jumped right back into his lap and grasped the fabric of Brainiac Five's pants, as if it would keep him in place.

Practically sighing in exasperation, he once again picked the money from his lap but this time he placed it on the other side of the cave using his long extendable arms.

"Stay over there."

Brainiac Five closed his eyes and felt the fuzzy warm presence return and curl up on his lap for the third time. It was ignoring everything he did and told it to do. Its ways of torture and annoyance appeared to have no end despite the monkey's limited capabilities.

But he didn't push it away.

* * *

**Ho My God! That was a longish chapter right there. And YES. Now you know how Brainy met his very first… friend? Sure. **

**HA! I also had intended to have Brainy climb a tree for shelter from the rain the first night, kind of like a ****Jungle Book**** piggyback. Then I realized that sleeping in a tall tree during a thunderstorm may not be very bright, and we're talking about BRAINiac Five here. So he had to sleep under a rock. So creative. **


End file.
